Finding Albia’s Hidden Treasure

Deep beneath the Creatures 1 ocean lies a sunken ship and a vaguely concealed treasure chest. Some of these background elements made me stop to wonder about Albia. The game may have been around a good fifteen years, yet the intrigue still remains! ArchDragon wrote an interesting post at The Arch about many of these mysterious features. As much as I wanted to examine every pixel, there was a group of Norns and Grendels in need of some attention! Actually, there was a metaphorical hidden treasure that appeared in the world and started to move…

Out of a little egg emerged the newest member of the group! Little Krathlaysi was the daughter of Hypocolious and Astrapia, which made her a half-sister to Athahain and Hybralvao. It might seem like I was on the path to limit genetic diversity, yet there would be very few instances of half-siblings of opposite genders. Krathlaysi was a welcome addition to the world, particularly with so few genetic mutations!

Stimuli

Stimuli genes define the chemicals that a Creature expects to receive in response to an action. These actions can range from interactions with the hand to involuntary actions like coughing or sneezing.

Mutation: 243 Emb B Mut ‘Invol 2=’sneeze” causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 18*Hexokinase
Default: 243 Emb B Mut ‘Invol 2=’sneeze” causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 16*Hexokinase

This mutation is quite simple: A standard Norn experiences 16 units of hexokinase when he or she sneezes, while Krathlaysi will experience 18 units. The change is quite small, but remember that hexokinase is a measure of energy. Sneezing is typically a tiring activity, yet Krathlaysi will become slightly more tired than her fellow Norns. All she needs to do is avoid sneezing, though, and this will never come into play!

Mutation: 245 Emb B Mut ‘Invol 4=’shiver” causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 16*Hotness++ + 32*Coldness- + 16*Coldness + 16*Fear
Default: 245 Emb B Mut ‘Invol 4=’shiver” causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 16*Hotness++ + 32*Coldness- + 16*Tiredness + 16*Fear

Just like the other stimuli gene mutation, Krathlaysi inherited this from her great-grandmother Ramsvika. Talk about a pair of very strong mutations that survived several generations! This gene is interesting, although it has its drawbacks. It replaced the tiredness chemical with the coldness chemical. Whenever Krathlaysi shivers, she will not get tired, yet she will not warm up as much as possible. The net gain is not 16 (32 minus 16) since one of the chemicals is coldness decrease, which acts differently than the direct chemical. She will need to shiver more to warm up, though the upside is that she will not get tired while doing so.

As I started to bond with Krathlaysi during her lessons, I noticed a sharp decline in the health of Hybralvao. This picture hardly requires an explanation! Although I found yet another very strange body data issue… After a ride up the lift and a few carrots, young Hybralvao was back to her usual self and learned to stay away from the deathcap mushroom!

There is nothing more satisfying than an Observation Kit with excellent numbers! Krathlaysi was the only Norn slightly below the optimal life force of about 75%, but that was because she had only eaten a little honey before her lessons. This generation was flying by! It felt like I found a balance between speed and quality. I left everyone in good spirits, with the promise of a return to the land of Albian treasure. What is more valuable than Norns and Grendels?